Cafe Rio Names Steve Vaughan President and CFO

Mexican fast-casual chain Cafe Rio announced today that Steve Vaughan will join the company as president and CFO, effective July 1. In this role, Vaughan will oversee the expansion of 80-unit Cafe Rio, which currently operates restaurants in 11 states.

In joining Cafe Rio, Vaughan will exit his post as executive vice president of franchise operations, finance and planning at Sonic Corp., franchisor of the Sonic Drive-In chain. Vaughan’s career at Sonic spanned more than 23 years, a time frame during which the brand’s system-wide sales grew from $850 million to more than $4.2 billion.

"Cafe Rio's focus on quality ingredients, made from scratch meals and energetic dining atmosphere continues to be a recipe of success," Vaughan said in a statement. "I am very excited about joining the Cafe Rio team and utilizing the experience I've gained at Sonic to help facilitate their growth plans."

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